Weird Western Maryland

  Landon House, August 2016 (Google). A longstanding legend holds that historic Landon House, in Urbana in Frederick County, was moved to its present location in 1846, but originally was built a century earlier, across the Potomac near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Supposedly, the new owner, the Rev. R.H. Phillips, loved the house but not the location, and had it dismantled and moved 85 miles north, to be reassembled on the Maryland side of the river. Writing of this legend in 1973, the house’s then-owner, Marion Stancioff, was careful in her assessment: While there is no known archival documentation to substantiate this claim, the account exists of the dismantling of the house and its subsequent transportation by barge down the Rappahannock and up the Potomac to Point of Rocks and its re-erection on its present site, as given by two nieces of Reverend Phillips who were still living in Frederick in 1949.   Note that those two women, in retelling the events of 103 years pre...

Historic Landon House in Urbana, Frederick County, is allegedly haunted by a bewildering variety of ghosts, depending on the source consulted. To put it another way, many popular beliefs linked with ghosts have come to be associated with Landon House, for example: Anomalous sounds. At Landon, these include a little boy’s voice; adult screams, prayers and cries of anguish; and the barks, pants, whimpers and snuffles of dogs. Anomalous sensations. At Landon, these include cold spots, taps on the shoulder, and the feeling of being watched. Physical anomalies. At Landon, these include doors that close by themselves, rocking chairs that rock by themselves, and lights that move without a visible source. Apparitions. At Landon, these include a woman with a lantern, a woman (perhaps the same one) who haunts the rooms of children, various Civil War soldiers, and an old man in the basement who sometimes is visible as only a torso and head. Several of these are referenced, apparen...